James Anderton - Depiction in Popular Culture

Depiction in Popular Culture

As Britain's most prominent and controversial Chief Constable combined with his distinctive physical appearance, Anderton was often depicted in fiction, almost universally in a critical fashion. In 1990, the BBC musical satire on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Ten Glorious Years showed actor Ricky Tomlinson portray James Anderton in the style of a US style Moral Majority television evangelist preaching against "Poofs" and "Pinkos". In the same year, the Happy Mondays song "God's Cop" (from their album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches) lampooned Anderton, who was still in office at the time.

In the same vein, Anderton was also the - sometimes thinly veiled - inspiration of various fictional characters. In 1989, he was caricatured as "James Appleton" in David Britton's satirical novel Lord Horror. The novel recited Anderton's AIDS remark, replacing the word "homosexuals" with "Jews", resulting in the book being banned and Britton imprisoned for four months. In 1990, a "John "Jesus" Wilkinson" featured as a hardline religious minded Chief Constable in the BBC legal drama Blind Justice. In 1993, the BBC police drama Between the Lines depicted a Chief Constable in Northern England (portrayed by Bernard Hill) ranting against "lesbians" and "loony lefties".